By now, everyone knows that Rochester mayor Bob Duffy has graciously accepted Andrew Cuomo’s gracious invitation to be his running-mate in this year’s gubernatorial contest. The rumors about Bob running for lt. governor that have been circulating for months have finally been revealed to be true. Of course, the negotiations have been going on for months as well, during which time Bob repeatedly stated that he was “not going anywhere.” As Queen Gertrude aptly put it in Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” “Methinks the lady doth protest too much.”

We know better now, too, about taking his words at face value. Should we truly believe anything he has to say? Frankly, I thought that if Cuomo offered the second banana spot to Bob, Bob would appear to have been suitably flattered, but would have declined the honor, saying “Rochester needs me.” That was the Bob Duffy on whose first election campaign I was proud to have been associated with. That man no longer exists. Perhaps he never did.

Of course, he is not going to resign as Mayor of Rochester while campaigning for lt. governor, which means he will be neglecting the duties to which he was re-elected here to seek higher office.

That makes some sense. If Cuomo is defeated ( God and the electorate willing ), Bob would still be Mayor of Rochester. Now that is typical Bob, hedging his bets like he did over Ren Square last year, or the subject of mayoral control of the schools until after he was re-elected.

Of course, if Cuomo gets elected, Bob will have to resign, probably on December 31 of this year. His deputy mayor, Patty Malgieri, will be left holding the bag briefly until city council appoints a temporary replacement. It might be she, leaving the Duffy administration intact or even one of their own. Or they might delay for 30 days, which would force a special election to be held.

At any rate, Bob is Albany bound, no matter what he has been telling us these last few months. And a final quote, from Saint Thomas More in “A Man For All Seasons:” “It profits a man not to sell his soul for the whole world. But Robert, for Albany?”

Good luck to Rick Lazio!

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Rich Gardner has been writing about the history, culture and waterways of Upstate New York for years. His articles have appeared in U.S. and Canadian publications, and one book, Learning to Walk. He is an alumnus of Brighton High School and SUNY Geneseo. He operates Upstate Resume & Writing Service in Brighton and recently moved to Corn Hill, where he is already involved in community projects. "I enjoy the 'Aha!' moments of learning new things, conceptual and literal. City living is a great teacher."

Ken Warner grew up in Brockport and first experienced Rochester as a messenger boy for a law firm in Midtown Tower. He recently moved downtown into a loft on the 13th floor of the Temple Building with a view of the Liberty Poll and works in the Powers Building overlooking Rochester’s four corners as Executive Director for UNICON, an organization devoted to bringing economic development to the community. He hopes to use his Rochester Blog to share his observations from these unique views of downtown.